National Bank, Burlington, NC (Charter 13613)
National Bank, Burlington, NC (Chartered 1932 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Burlington is a city in Alamance and Guilford counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the principal city of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Alamance County, in which most of the city is located, and is a part of the Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point CSA. The population was 57,303 at the 2020 census, making Burlington the 18th largest city in North Carolina.
Alamance County was created when Orange County was partitioned in 1849. Early settlers included several groups of Quakers, many of which remain active in the Snow Camp area; German farmers; and Scots-Irish immigrants.
The need of the North Carolina Railroad in the 1850s to locate land where they could build, repair and do maintenance on its track was the genesis of Burlington, North Carolina. The company selected a piece of land slightly west of present-day Graham. On January 29, 1856, the last spikes were driven into the final tie of the North Carolina Railroad project, uniting the cities of Goldsboro and Charlotte by rail. The next day, the first locomotive passed along the new route.
Around the turn of the century, E.M. Holt established small textile operations along the Haw River and Great Alamance Creek. In 1908, E.M. Holt built a cotton mill. From the establishment of this single factory, Alamance County grew to eventually operate 30 cotton mills and 10 to 15 yarn manufacturing plants employing 15,000 people. Eventually, the early textile venture of E.M. Holt became known all over the world as Burlington Industries, and is now headquartered in nearby Greensboro. Throughout this period, Burlington became a prosperous and vibrant little city filled with schools, churches, newspapers, telegraph and telephone lines, roads and a streetcar line—all in keeping with the latest "modern progress" of the times.
Burlington had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized May 12, 1932
- Chartered May 13, 1932
- Bank was Open past 1935
- Merged with Wachovia Bank & Trust Co., Charlotte, North Carolina on April 1, 1954
On December 17, 1931, the doors of the First National Bank of Burlington were closed at 1:15 o'clock by direction of M.L. Barnett, a national bank examiner. Roy W. Malone, cashier of the bank, stated that the difficulty was due to the depression which had affected the value of stocks and bonds held as security. The values of the stocks and bods was thought to have depreciated below the capital and surplus figures of $200,000.
A campaign to sell $150,000 in capital stock to assure the reopening of the First National Bank of Burlington was completed at a mass meeting in Burlington on April 15, 1932. On May 13, the Comptroller of the Currency approved the charter, number 13613, for The National Bank of Burlington.
R.H. Whitehead, a prominent hosiery manufacturer of Burlington was elected president of the reorganized National Bank of Burlington which reopened on Monday, May 16, 1932. The cashier was Lewis J. Blakey, originally from Atlanta, Texas, who came to Burlington as the receiver for the failed First National Bank. He had worked in the War Department and then Treasury before he was appointed as receiver. In 1937, Mr. Blakey was elected president and he served in this position until his death in 1945.
In February 1936, the officers were R.H. Whitehead, president; L.J. Blakey, vice president and cashier; C.V. Long, assistant cashier; B.S. Stack, assistant cashier; B.M. Currin, assistant cashier and W.S. Coulter, attorney. The directors were L.J. Blakey, E.M. Long, R.A. Coble, G.D. Moore, W.S. Coulter, C.V. Sellers, C.V. Long, R.H. Whitehead, and R.D. Wilson. The bank had capital stock $100,000, surplus $125,000, undivided profits $3,827.96 and deposits of $2,438,035.38.
The addition of $1 million to surplus of Wachovia Bank and Trust Co. of Charlotte brought the bank's combined capital and surplus to over S22 million. John F. Watlington, senior vice president, stated that through the merger on April 1st with the National Bank of Burlington $450,000 was added to Wachovia's surplus. Then at their regular quarterly meeting, directors of Wachovia authorized the transfer of $550,000 from undivided profits making a total increase in surplus as of April 20, 1954, $1 million. These additions gave Wachovia surplus of $17 million and capital of $5,150,000 for a combined total of $22,150,000, the largest capital and surplus of any bank in the Southeast. Wachovia ranked 65th in terms of deposits among the nation's 14,000 commercial banks.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The National Bank of Burlington, NC
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $288,460 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1932 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 34,772 notes (No large size and 34,772 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 1590 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 740 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 460 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 10952 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 5520 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 1560
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1932 - 1935):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Bank Note Signers
- There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.
Wiki Links
- North Carolina Bank Note History
- General information on Burlington (Wikipedia)
- General information on Alamance County (Wikipedia)
- General information on North Carolina (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Burlington, NC, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlington,_North Carolina
- Don C. Kelly, National Bank Notes, A Guide with Prices. 6th Edition (Oxford, OH: The Paper Money Institute, 2008).
- Dean Oakes and John Hickman, Standard Catalog of National Bank Notes. 2nd Edition (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1990).
- Banks & Bankers Historical Database (1782-1935), https://spmc.org/bank-note-history-project
- Statesville Record and Landmark, Statesville, NC, Fri., Dec. 18, 1931.
- The Charlotte News, Charlotte, NC, Fri., Apr. 15, 1932.
- The Charlotte News, Charlotte, NC, Fri., May 13, 1932.
- The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, NC, Sun., May 22, 1932.
- The Daily Times-News, Burlington, NC, Thu., Sep. 26, 1935.
- The Daily Times-News, Burlington, NC, Fri., Feb. 28, 1936.
- The Herald-Sun, Durham, NC, Thu., Mar. 8, 1945.
- The Charlotte News, Charlotte, NC, Fri., Apr. 23, 1954.